Skate guard



Sept. 22, 1925.

A. K. JOHNSON SKATE GUARD Filed April 6, 1925 M/ gg/ Jim-w".- W1:

Patented Sept. 22, 1925.

ALFRED K. JOHNSON, or CHICAGO, rumors.

-: l QsKA rE GUARD.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALF ED 'K. JOHNSON,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in 'Skate Guards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to guards for me skates and the object of the invention is to make the guard more flexible than heretofore so that it may be readily bent double when not in use and be carried in the pocket or other small container.

Many if not most of the ice skates in use today are permanently attached to the shoe or boot of the user, and to enable the user to walk upon the ground or upon walks, roadways or flooring guards have been provided which may be attached to the skate runner to support it and keep it off the ground. These guards are commonly made of leather so they will not dull the skate when the user walks around. The guards are commonly a foot or more in length, and hence it is desirable to fold them when not in use so they may be put in the users pocket. This folding or bending has, however, been difficult heretofore because the leather of which the guard is composed is necessarily thick and consequently rather stiff; hence the guard does not bend readily and if forced to bend is apt to crack. The purpose of my invention is to increase the flexibility of the guard so that it may be readily bent double with very little effort and without danger of damaging the article.

I accomplish my object in the manner illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the guard in use upon a skate runner.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the guard.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view on the line 3-3 Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the guard folded.

Figure 5 is a side elevation showing the near side piece of the guard removed.

Like numerals denote like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, the skate runner or blade 1 is of the ordinary form, being Application filed April 6, 1925. Serial No. 20,936.

attached to and constituting a support for the tubular portion 2-of the skate.

Referrin to the 'uard in the form selected to illustrate the invention it consists of two side pieces 4 of cow hide or other stout leather. These are of ordinary form,

being somewhat longer than the skate runner and being canoe shaped at the front to form a pocket to receive the forward end of the runner and hold the forward end of the guard in position. The upper portion of the side pieces lie adjacent to the sides of the runner when the device is in use. At the bottom of the guard the side pieces are attached to an intervening spacer 6 which usually is also of stout leather for supporting the runner and at the same time preventing it from becoming dulled. In the present case the parts are secured together by a row of stitching 7.

In myimproved device the spacer is cut away between its ends to increase the flexibility. In the form illustrated it is interrupted at thecentral portion 8 preferably for a distance of 2 inches more or less. The stitching is preferably also omitted at this point.

At the rear end means are provided for detachably attaching the guard to the skate. In the illustrated form the means consist of a loop 10 of leather or other flexible material adapted to pass over the rear end i I of the runner and to be fastened to the side pieces by snap fasteners 11, 12.

It will be evident from-the foregoing description taken in connection with the drawings that as a result of the absence of the spacer at the mid portion of the guard the flexibility of the device is greatly increased. This high degree of flexibility results not only from the fact that the outside side piece traverses a shorter path when the device is folded but also from the fact that in the preferred construction the stitching is also omitted at the mid portion, thus permitting relative movement of the parts at this point.

As a result of my invention the flexibility of the uard is greatly increased without substantlally altering the appearance. Furthermore there is a' saving in material both from the fact that the mid portion of the spacer is omitted and the fact that short pieces may be employed instead of requiring pieces long enough to extend from one end of the guard to the other.

Having thus described my invention what I claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A flexible skate guard of substantially the same length as the skate runner and having a portion of the material omitted halfway between the ends for increasing the flexibility and permitting the guard to be bent double.

I -2. A-skate guard having a pair of flexible side pieces and a spacer between them for supporting the skate runner, the spacer having a portion cut away betweenits ends to increase the flexibility.

3. A skate guard having a pair of leather and supporting the skate runner, said spacer being interrupted near the center whereby the guard may be readily bent double.

4. A skate guard consisting of leather side pieces, a spacer located between them at the bottom for supporting the skate runner, stitching for securing said parts together, and means for detachably attaching the guard to the skate runner, the spacer and stitching being interrupted at the central portion.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

ALFRED K. JOHNSON. 

